Closing company aiding job search

K.O. Lee employees meeting with possible future employers

K.O. Lee employees meeting with possible future employers

April 12, 2008|By Elissa Dickey, edickey@aberdeennews.com

In a perfect world, said Rich Hickman, all of the roughly 30 employees at Aberdeen's K.O. Lee would have a job waiting for them when the company closes in a few months. To help reach that goal, the company has been bringing in representatives of area employers to discuss the opportunities they have available, said Hickman, president and chief executive officer of the 120-year-old K.O. Lee. Businesses including Horton Industries of Britton have already visited. Hickman said among those yet to come are Hub City Inc. and Molded Fiber Glass Cos. To Hickman, and the K.O. Lee board of directors, all of whom must be descendents of founder Knute Oscar Lee, providing this service is crucial. “It's very important to me,” said Hickman, who has been with the company since December 1996. “It's very important to the (Lee) family.” The family has always run the business respecting its employees, Hickman said. “They wanted to end it that way,” he said. K.O. Lee announced this week that it is closing. Founded in 1888, the business currently produces and sells grinding machines for the machine-tool industry. The decision to close the plant was based on family and business reasons, Krestie Utech, chairwoman of the K.O. Lee board and granddaughter of Knute Oscar Lee, has said. Weak demand for the company's grinders and a sluggish global economy have made it difficult for K.O. Lee, Hickman has said. Attempts to sell the business in recent years have failed. Hickman expects a definite closing date to be known in about two weeks. For sale: Though the sale is not finalized, Hickman said an Ohio company is in the process of buying the rights to the K.O. Lee name, including drawings, blueprints, sales records and inventory to be used at the Ohio business. Anything left will be sold through online auction, he said. Nine to 10 acres of land is also for sale, including the 127,000-square-foot plant and land to the east and west - both of which the company has allowed to be used for local soccer and rugby practices for free. The city has maintained the land, Hickman said. K.O. Lee employs 29 people, 28 of whom are based in Aberdeen. The board decided notice of the company's closing, in lieu of severance, was a better option for K.O. Lee employees, Hickman said. Search begun: He said employees have been encouraged to go out and get resumes done. Hickman, who points out he is an employee like anyone else, said he has five resumes out. The company has lost three employees already, Hickman said. While there has been some anger, some have left because they found a job that needed them to start right away, he said. With a couple of employees also retiring, Hickman said, 20 to 22 are currently seeking employment. Most employees are from the area, he said, so the hope is that anyone who wants to stay in Aberdeen will be able to. It's never a good time to lose your job, he said. But with the job market the way it is right now, “Aberdeen ... is a good place to be living,” he said. When he started, there were about 100 employees, Hickman said. Now, having fewer than 30 means everyone at the company has been there during his time as CEO. And the average length of employment is around 30 years, he said. That's why it's extremely important he sees them all employed. “I've got the best crew of workers in this city,” Hickman said. Sales up: Ironically, sales have tripled this week, he said. Customers are wanting to get K.O. Lee machines while they still can. “All based on the fact that people respect the quality this workforce produces,” Hickman said.